Seattle, WA. January 23, 2014 – US Congressman Rick Larsen met with the Nepalese community in Seattle, Washington USA. This is the first time sitting US Congressman’s direct interaction with the Nepalese community in USA.
Since returning from Nepal, Darshan Rauniyar, a former candidate for the House of Representatives has been working with Congressman Rick Larsen’s direct interaction with the growing and vibrant Nepalese community. There were more than 45 local Nepalese gathered at Rauniyar’s home for this historic event lasting more than 2.5 hrs. During this informal gathering, Nepalese community members expressed their concerns ranging from local to National and International level. One of the important issues discussed was the plight of Nepalese workers in Qatar where they have been treated as modern day slaves; others were the need to step up efforts to help bring democratic changes in Nepal and start the economic development in the country.
The community also thanked Congressman for taking the lead in the introduction of the historic Nepal Resolution #47 and need to bring the resolution to a vote in the US House of Representatives. The event organizer Darshan Rauniyar said “This is an opening door for the Nepalese to get to know the Congressman and meet him personally and bring the issues that matter the most to our community.” He added “Rick Larsen has been showing his interest and reached out to me in meeting and getting to know the Nepalese community.”
Darshan Rauniyar strongly believes time is now for the Nepalese community around the world to reach out to their policy makers to discuss their local issues and the urgency to raise the plight of the Nepalese people internationally.